League Championships
by Marishka Ishtali
Summary: Alfred, upon discovering an attention grabbing mmorpg, immediately becomes addicted, even nurturing friendships and perhaps even a very long distant relationship, not that he'd ever admit that out loud. UsUk yaoi fluff / smut rated M for future content


_A/N: This of course stemmed from my adoration for everything fantasy, including the game League of Legends. I hope you enjoy ~_

* * *

Alfred was a fickle teenager, his interests were always changing along with those he surrounded himself with. It was amazing that he stayed interested in video games as long as he did, especially one in particular.

League of Legends wasn't very popular in northeast Ohio. If it wasn't Call of Duty no one seemed interested. But, Alfred had a secret love for mmorpg's and he couldn't contain himself when he happened upon the game one Sunday afternoon.

He was finishing up a quick email to his cousin, Matthew, who resided over the border, when a screen popped up, advertising the game with a girl with an ice bow shooting an arrow off to the side. Her glowing blue eyes peeked out at him with her snowy white hair blown back under her silky hood. There was no denying that the girl was gorgeous, animated or not, and it intrigued him enough to click the site.

The webpage was even more extravagant with other characters pushed together up at the top and around the sides as news sprang up every few seconds, making him have to refresh the page once more. It excited him that everyone was so active with the game from the forums to the recent in game updates it seemed to be a game the creator poured his heart into.

Alfred's eyes shined with glee as he read everything over, including the description. By the time he'd scoured the entire web page it was well into the night but the teenager couldn't help it. He just had to download it and play one game, dozing off in study hall the next morning wouldn't cause anyone harm.

He paused when he was linked to the download screen and it questioned which server he'd like to join. NA was automatically highlighted for him but something made him pause. Did he really want to play with those he surrounded himself daily with? He knew he wouldn't run into any of his schoolmates but he ached for a change of scenery, or atleast those that could tell him about one. So, on a whim he changed it to the EU West server, hoping desperately that the server wouldn't effect the game play. He knew he could always redownload it but he wanted the full experience the first time and he hopped this would be it.

The download took no time at all which was surprising to him. It looked like the graphics were completely in depth, almost realistic even, how could it of not taken more time? But, once he opened the game he realized that it had two loading bars down at the bottom and groaned at the slow movement of the two. Alfred hopped it was worth it.

The wait was long, causing him to slump back in his cushioned chair and doze off every few minutes. A few times his eyes fluttered open only to see the top bar stuck at 33%. It was worrying to him, he wanted to play tonight and it seemed more and more likely that he would not be able to.

But, it seemed luck was in his favor tonight because after an hour the large, orange PLAY button was highlighted.

His mind was immediately alert as he sat upright in his computer chair, his eyes zeroing in on every detail as he typed in his log in details. The music on the screen was low but one of the champions stood there looking rather menacing, his mustache puffed up along with his chest. Alfred grinned at the image, seeming to share a moment with the animation before he clicked log in and his details were assimilated.

The young gamer was brought to a screen that was much like the web page, showing updates and news and anything else that was important. A blue exclamation mark shined orange before going back to blue in an attempt to get his attention. He clicked on it and a few messages rolled out under his mouse, each with a different apology, informing players of certain items being down as they updated the patch. Alfred wasn't worried about it.

Even with the boy's short attention span he always enjoyed checking a game out thoroughly before he actually played it just so he couldn't be called by the notorious name of noob. There were videos advertised in the bottom right corner and he clicked play, only watching a few minutes of a few of them. It seemed some of the characters, or champions as they were called, had their own videos which amused Alfred greatly for some unknown reason. But then he found a video that interested him and watched it the whole way through. His eyes were lit up with utter delight as he watched summoners' battle it out in person with computers on their laps, a trophy located behind the two teams along with screens so an audience could watch the summoner's champions battle it out to destroy the opposing team's purple nexus. Alfred was so unbelievably intrigued that he watched it the whole way through. He yearned to be able to compete doing something he loved and even without playing the game he knew automatically that he would love it and strive to compete. But he didn't fret on it because it'd be awhile.

Alfred let out a long breath after scouring the home page like he'd done on the internet. There was nothing left to do now but play. He was equally excited and nervous, his heart jittery underneath it's cage known as the ribs. His mouse neared the big red button on the top, his mouse darting away a few times before he finally clicked it.

The game offered him a beginner's lesson in the game but he declined, figuring with other games he'd played that he'd be familiar enough. The player versus player button was disabled for him which he wasn't too roughed about, he knew it to be better to start out against computers anyway. Besides, with his luck, he'd probably get stuck in a game against the pros like he'd seen in the video. And he didn't want his spirits crushed before he'd even properly played.

After choosing the Co-op vs AI option he was sent to wait for a few moments for others to join the game. It didn't take put a few moments until he was asked to accept the game, which he immediately did. A strange sound set off from his speakers as he was sent to a page with multiple pictures displaying the champions that Alfred had to choose from. He knew from experience that he should read through all of their statistics but the fact that the time he had was limited he decided to chose instead on aesthetics which he knew he would regret later.

He had ten to chose from but he knew from what he read online that there were many more made. He'd have to visit the forums later to ask how he could acquire more of them. The girls on the page both seemed to be holding long ranged weapons, one of them seemed to be the girl on the advertisement with the piercing blue eyes and hood that billowed out into a cape who he now had a name to put to the face, Ashe.

The other summoner's on the screen seemed to have already chosen their champions and those were not greyed out for Alfred, it seemed they couldn't play the same champions as their team mates. Now that the other players had chosen they seemed to be chatting at the bottom for the moment before it started.

_StarSpangled has now entered the chat room_

**B3ND 0V3R**: bot

Alfred couldn't help but snicker at the name as his eyes glanced away from the available champions.

**Alec:** top

**Margyrine:** bot

**FALL3N:** jung

Alfred turned his head to the side in confusion before he realised they were lane calling and just jerked his head down in a nod, taking the only available lane left. It seemed his first game he would be a solo player. Well, no time like the present to test his skills. He was still stalling on the character pick and it seemed that two of the players had started a bit of a spat pre-game.

**Alec:** it's a bot game jungle is an unnecessary position

** Alec:** besides ur champ isn't even a jung one!

**FALL3N:** jung

Alfred snorted at the one worded reply, finally choosing his champion as the clock ticked down. It was the only animal champion that was available with it's head lifted up in what seemed to be sheer power, his eyes almost hidden below the armor that sat atop his head. Volibear was his name and Albert thought he looked like a character he'd be able to stick to. If he played him well atleast. He'd glanced at a few of his stats and the difficulty to play was rather low which he figured to be good. He'd just have to find out.

The two continued their mini spat below and Alfred hummed mindlessly, his fingers tapping against the hard desk that lay below his lap top.

** Margyrine:** Star mind locking in m8?

Alfred was startled as the other summoner used a shortened version of his username and he frantically searched for the lock button before snorting and pressing it. If it was a snake it would of bit him.

**StarSpangled:** sorry about that

** Margyrine:** np

Now that all the summoners were locked in it gave them ten seconds to strategize, which Alfred didn't think was enough but it seemed the others didn't care either way. They didn't even speak as the seconds ticked by and they were sent into a loading screen.

It didn't take long until they were all loaded in and sent down onto a platform with a woosh. A thick white line was connected to Alfred's champion and he frowned before he moved from the singular platform, almost laughing at the little stairs that Volibear would certainly crush if it were real, and headed off to his lane. The white segment stayed there so Alfred knew it was nothing he needed to familiarize himself with.

A loud female voice welcomed them to Summoner's Rift and told them that minions would be spawning in thirty seconds. Alfred smiled, enjoying the graphics. The short grass seemed to give underneath the large bear's weight and the armor even gave off a distinct clink with movement. This was definitely a high quality game.

The game went smoothly and Alfred did pretty well for it being his first game and having to go solo. But he soon realized the need for a solo mid player. It wa and top had two as well as bottom. Well, top was supposed to have two. It seemed that difficult summoner had decided to go battle in the jungle after all. He even killed the baron by himself, whatever that meant, but everyone else seemed to congratulate him. All those he played with seemed to be in high spirits and that made him smile. Sometimes gamers could be overly cruel when their team mates made a mistake, but that was all part of the risk of gaming.

_ "Shut Down. An Ally has been slain."_

The now familiar female voice resonated from the speaker and Alfred grimaced as he was killed. It was surprisingly his first death though he'd killed the champion he was against several times. The champ had blue skin with a lighter blue pattern seem to swim through it. Alfred couldn't help him but compare him to an avatar and that made him grin cheesily at the screen while he waited to respawn.

**RyzeBot has ended StarSpangled's killing spree (500g).**

**Margyrine:** rough m8

** StarSpangled:** /:

**StarSpangled:** tbf this is only my first game

** Alec:** doing pretty well for that

Alfred held down the tab button to check the stats and it seemed solo top worked well for him, he had well over twenty kills and they were only fifteen minutes into the game. All three of top's turrets were destroyed and he was already pushing at the base.

** StarSpangled:** says you!

**StarSpangled:** twenty kills

**StarSpangled:** holy ****

It seemed the chat was censored.

**Alec:** (:

**Alec:** I've been playing for awhile.

**Alec:** maybe we can game together some more?

** StarSpangled:** defiantly

**StarSpangled:** headed to sleep after this it's late and I'm beat

** StarSpangled:** tomorrow tho fur sure!

Alfred was smiling at the thought of already making in game friends.

The game was over soon after that. Alfred had pulled in a few more kills and even smashed his own way through the lane. He was completely full of pride that he'd been praised by such an experienced player.

After they won all the summoner's were sent to another page to see the game stats and chat a bit.

_StarSpangled had entered the chat room_

_ Margyrine has entered the chat room_

**Marygyrine:** gg!

** StarSpangled:** gg?

**Alec:** good game (:

**StarSpangled:** ahh right! gg then!

Alfred's fingers typed smoothly across the keyboard before he pressed the home button. A friend request was waiting for him and he smiled as he accepted Alec as a friend before logging off and heading off to bed.

His head was filled with battles and victories, as were his dreams.

* * *

-Across_ The Pond-_

Arthur was a respectable lad, always doing everything the mature way and never taking any short cuts. He didn't indulge in silly things like video games. Well, except for one. League of Legends had captured his attention since the very first game back five years ago. He'd gotten quite good and it and had actually maxed out at the highest level, level 30, back in his very first year. After that it was all championships and sponsors and his ranked league.

He adored his league more than anything. During the season he could not be counted on to follow through with plans or even to leave his flat. He worked long and hard to keep his league up in the ranks. The League Championship wasn't too far off so there was nothing more important to him.

At the moment Arthur sat with his laptop situated on his lap, he wasn't in a game nor was he about to get into one. He was simply chatting it up to his team. His teammates permanently resided in his private chat box seeing as they identified him as their captain and he always needed to be in contact with them.

**Alec:** I played with this noob earlier

**JeffyV:** hah! poor you xD

**Alec:** nono he was actually pretty good

**Alec:** it was his 1 game

**Alec:** 5/2/3

** Thesis:** damn

**SirArt:** that's more than you can say on your first game, you insufferable twat.

His team were more than used to his good natured insults and took them in strides, even from the very beginning. It honestly touched him how they automatically accepted him for him. Most were so quick to accept.

Arthur was obsessed with grammar and would even take the few extra seconds to type out the entire word, even in game. His team would get greatly annoyed at him at this but he never typed when he was about to lose a crucial kill so they always forgave him. His team had been together for a few years so they knew each other fairly well and were more than a little comfortable with each other.

During a game they would always skype just to keep the communication better but sometimes the connection would get garbled and they'd type instead.

Alec and Arthur were the best of friends. Those two were friends with the other three of course but those two were just like brothers to one another. They'd both met at a low level and their friendship bloomed. Arthur was the one that invited others to play with them and soon they had their usual five and decided to make it official. They called themselves Alliance and were fairly well known as far as leagues went. They'd one the League Championships last year and were hoping to take home the trophy two years in a row but some new, fresh, up-and-coming leagues seemed to be giving them a hassle. They just hopped they could pull ahead by the end and be able to participate in the in person competitions. They at least wanted that. Last year it was so fun to be in person and much to their surprise a few girls had looked them over impressed with them and actually seemed to know their league. It was advertised a few times on League's home page but he didn't know anyone that read those regularly. Well, he supposed now he was one of those that daily checked the web page and forums. But Athur shrugged, when you were part of a league you did whatever you could to get better at the game and find out about updates.

The conversation had gone on without him but Arthur didn't mind, watching the five chat was amusing and it was a wonderful part of his day he'd have to admit. Though he'd never tell them that. Arthur came across as a bit of a hard ass but they all knew the softness that lay inside. Arthur let out a thick sigh, that's what happened when you knew someone for years, they could always crack you open.

**SirArt:** I'm off to bed.

It was nearly five am and Arthur had to wake in a couple hours to head into work. It was worth it though to harbor his secret video game adictivity. He worked an honest living, he was a chef at a little place down the street. They served mostly italian food but Arthur didn't mind, he just enjoyed cooking and the atmosphere of the place wasn't half bad either.

**Alec:** night Artty!

** BlackDahlia:** sweet dreams tw*t c;

He gave an amused chuckle before he exited and headed to his bedroom, falling down into the soft, cushiony mess with a heavy sigh. Sleep found him easily and before he knew it his lips had fallen open slightly and adorable little snores slipped out of those pale lips of his.

* * *

_ A/N: I hope that was at least mildly enjoyable c": I'd love to know what you thought! both positive and negative and please do point out and grammar/ spelling errors to me, sometimes I do miss them. It doesn't have much USUK in it quite yet but I had to set up the rest of the story of course ~_


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